PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Collin Gillespie hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points, and Justin Moore scored 15 points to lead No. 14 Villanova to its sixth straight win, 82-42 over Butler on Sunday.
The Wildcats (13-4, 6-1 Big East) are rolling again since dropping their conference opener and never let Butler get comfortable at the Wells Fargo Center.
With a noon start, the Wildcats did Philly sports fans a favor and used a 13-2 run to decide this one by halftime — enough time to flip over to catch the opening kickoff of the Eagles’ playoff game at Tampa Bay. The bar areas on the concourse were swarmed with fans who decided to watch playoff football on big screens over the Wildcats stretching their lead to 25 only minutes into the second half.
Butler (9-7, 2-3) had given coach Jay Wright’s Wildcats fits more than any other team in the Big East since 2016. The Bulldogs’ five wins over that span were the most of any team against Villanova over that span.
The Wildcats opened the second half on an 11-0 run and Butler missed 11 straight shots at one point in a rare lopsided mismatch between the programs.
Dixon and Jermaine Samuels each scored 14 points and Wright emptied his bench early in the rout. Chuck Harris led Butler with 15 points.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — E.J. Liddell scored 19 points and No. 16 Ohio State defeated Penn State.
Ohio State (11-4, 5-2 Big Ten) won despite shooting just 38.6% overall and going the final 5:07 without a basket.
The Nittany Lions (8-7, 3-4) trimmed multiple 10-point deficits in the second half and pulled within four with seven seconds to go.
Seth Lundy, Penn State’s leading scorer with an average of 14.1 points, missed his first game of the season. The school announced earlier in the day that he was out but didn’t give a reason.
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